Improvement in potato-diggers



S. B. GONOVER.

PotatQ-Digger.

Patented June 3,v 1862. Y

I'liventor,

` Witnesses= AM. PHDT-LITHO. G0. .Y. (OBBURNE'S PROCESS) UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

s'. B. coNovEaor NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN POTATO-DIGGERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,4` 35, dated June 3,1862.

.'9 all 'whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, S. B. GONOVER, ofthe city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Digging Potatoes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side sectional View of my invention, taken in the line cc ac, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the same, taken inthe line y y, Fig. 1; Figs. 3, 4, and 5, transverse sections ofthe same, takenrespeclirely through the lines e z, e z', e" z", Fig. 1. v

Similar letters ofreference indicate corre. 1 sponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improved machine for. digging potatoes of that class in which a rotary screen is employed to separate the potatoes from the earth and deposit the former in suitable receptacles.

rEhe object of theinvent-ion is to simplify and render moreefticient than "hitherto the class of potato-diggers specified by dispensingv with all special means for separating weeds and trash from the potatoes; and to this end the invention consists in constructing the rotary screen of two spiral conveyers placed on a common axis or shaft and open at one side, the screen having a suitable shake motion, and all arranged as hereinafter full y shown and described, whereby the weeds, trash, and earth a pinion, E, gears, said pinion being' at thefront end of a shaft, F, which is placed lon gitudinally on the back part of the frame A, and has a spur-wheel," G, on its hack end, which gears into a pinion, H, on the back end ofthe screen-shaft I, which is placed longitudinally in the frame A in an inclined position, as shown intriga.

The screen which is on the shaftIis formed of two spiral parts, J J, each of which is the sec- `tion of an oval or ellipse in its transverse section, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, each part having an open space, a, extending its Whole length, with the exception of a short distance at their front ends, where the two parts meet, as shown at K in Fig. 1. The parts J J are constructed of wires a', placed at a suitable distance apart and connected to ribs b, which are attached at their inner ends to hubs or col lars c on the shaft I, said ribs being curved or bent to give the desired form of the transverse section of the parts. rlhe wires c', at the back ends of the parts J J, are rather wider apart than at their front ends, as shown in Fig. 1. The objectof this will be presently explained. The diameter of the parts J also gradually decreases froin their front to their back parts.

-The back partof the shaft I isiitted in a bearing, d, which admits of its -working vertically therein to a certain extent, said bearing being sufficiently high to effect such result, (see Fig.

1,) and on the shaft -I, adjoining the bearing d,

there is placed a cam, L, which,` as the shaft I rotates, works against a plate, c, on the frame A,fand gives a shake motion 'to shaft I, and consequently to the screen.

lo the inner side ofthe frame A, at its front partftthere is attached a scoop or share, M, which is in line with the front end ofthe screen, as shown in Fig. l.

I would remark that the front part of the frame A is tted loosely ou `uprights f, to which the casterwheels C G areattached, and a cord or chain, g, which is attached to the front end of the frame A, passes over a hori zontal bar, h, which connects the upper ends of the uprights f, said cord or chain being attached to a lever, N, which is secured to the frame A, and is retained in proper position by a stop, O, in order to sustain the front part of the frame when the scoop or share is out of the ground. This device for raising the front part of the frame is common to various agricultural implements.

The operationis as follows When the ma chine is drawn along and is at work the lever N is free from its stop O, and the scoop or share M digs up the potatoesfrom the hills or drills, the potatoes and earth, with weeds or vines, passing into the front end of the screen,

which is rotated through the medium of the gearing previously described. As the screen rotates, the earth passes between the wires a ofthe parts J J ot' the screen, while the weeds, vines, and trash are discharged through the spaces or openings a a ot' said parts. The Weeds and gvines cannot be conveyed to the back part of the screen, as they will not pass freely through it, and if the screen were inclosed like those of previous machines they would choke or clog it. The spaces a admit of a free discharge of the weeds and vines, while the potatoes pass freely to the back ends of the parts J J, the small potatoes being discharged through the wide spaces at the back part ofthe screen, and the large potatoes being discharged from the back end thereof. The superior gravity of the potatoes and the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the screen cause the potatoes to remain in the parts J, and admit ot' their being carried by the spiral form of said parts to theback ends of the same. The shake motion ofthe screen, previously described, aids in separating the dirt, weeds, Ste., from the potatoes, and in discharging the same from the screen.

I employ two receptacles, P Q, to receive the potatoes. One, Q, being underneath the back part ofthe screen to receive the small potatoes, and the other, P, just back of the screen to receive the large ones. These receptacles are hung on pivots aX ax, and are connected bya cord or chain, b', to a lever, It, by operating which at any time the receptacles may be tilted and the potatoes discharged. These receptacles are, however, not new separately or in themselves considered. They may be seen in a machine formerly patented by me and Marshall Spring, the Letters Patent bearing date April 30,1861.

By forming the screen of two spiral parts,J J, as shown and described, I avoid all special devices for separating the Weeds, vines, 86e., from the potatoes, which devices render the machine complicated, and I obtain a conveyer, Weed-separator, and screen combined in one device.

I do not claim broadly a rotary screw, for they have been previously used, nor do I claim separately the potato-receiversP Q; but,

Having thus described my invention, what Ido claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. rIhe combined rotary screen, conveyer, and Weed-separator, formed oftwo spiral parts, J J, connected to a common axis or shaft, I, and provided with openings a a, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The scoop or share M and rotary screen, conveyor, and Weed-separator, having a shake motion, as described, in combination with the tilting receivers P Q, all arranged for joint operation, as and for the purpose specified.

STEPHEN B. GONOVER.

Witnesses EDW. W. HoDGsoN, J AMEs LAIRD. 

